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Gun used at Pittsburgh crime scene traced back to New Jersey police, part of alarming trend for former service weapons

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Gun used at Pittsburgh crime scene traced back to New Jersey police, part of alarming trend for former service weapons


How former cop guns end up in criminal hands

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How former police guns are ending up in the hands of criminals

04:24

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When a police department upgrades its guns, what happens to the old ones? A CBS News investigation found tens of thousands of these former service weapons land at crime scenes across the country.

In a 16-year period ending in 2022, the ATF identified more than 52,000 guns recovered from crime scenes that were once used by police agencies. It took a federal court order for the ATF to release that data.

In one case, serial numbers obtained from police mapped a weapon’s path from Newark, New Jersey, through New Cumberland, Pennsylvania, and ultimately to a crime scene in Pittsburgh.

Shots fired in Pittsburgh

On July 14, 2019, 12 shots were fired in the Northview Heights neighborhood of Pittsburgh. Police searched the area and didn’t find anyone shot, but they did find the gun, ditched near Hazlett Street.

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An officer wrote that the gun had “numerous scrapes … consistent with it being thrown and sliding across cement,” leading police to believe the person who fired the shots tossed it as they ran away.

According to Pittsburgh Police, the gun was not reported stolen, but they also couldn’t find any record of the current owner. An ATF gun tracing report obtained by CBS shows the gun’s serial number was traced back to the Newark Police Department.

Newark police traded-in guns

Newark Police have proudly taken guns off the street for years through gun buybacks. But at the same time they have inadvertently put their own weapons back in circulation.

The Newark Police Department confirmed that they traded-in about a thousand guns in 2016 and 2017 to a firearms dealer, in exchange for discounts on new guns. That dealer then resells the weapons.

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“It makes me feel that money is more important to you than mankind,” said Newark-based anti-violence activist Pastor Jethro James. “Melt it down and make something useful out of it.”

“I don’t blame this mayor because it didn’t start with this mayor,” James said. “However, this is your time to try; step up to the plate and take your swings. You tried and because of your trying, maybe somebody is not dying, somebody’s kid is not dying.”

Many police departments trade-in weapons

Newark Police tell CBS News they have not traded-in guns in years, but they would not say whether they will do it again when it’s time to upgrade.

In partnership with the nonprofit newsrooms The Trace and Reveal, CBS News surveyed 200 police agencies nationwide and found a majority sell their guns when they decide to upgrade their arsenal.

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Police in Monroe, New York, trade-in old weapons. Police in Yonkers, New York, trade-in to a vendor that does not sell to the public. In New York City, officers are the legal owners of their guns. When upgrading, they can keep the old weapon for personal use, or sell it.

“I’m not going to penalize or say that’s wrong in any way,” said retired ATF New York Special Agent in Charge John DeVito. “I think we should have satisfactory budgets so these departments and chiefs don’t have to make hard decisions — ‘We have to trade-in these guns, we have sell these guns, in order to equip my officers.’ That’s not a decision a chief should be having to make.”

According to DeVito, ATF agents can trace a gun from one firearms dealer to another, but they can’t see which citizens might later buy them.

Tracing the gun from New Jersey to Pennsylvania

The gun used in the 2019 Pittsburgh incident was sold by Newark police to a company called Atlantic Tactical, according to documents obtained by CBS News.

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Atlantic Tactical’s website says their corporate headquarters is in New Cumberland, Pennsylvania. However, CBS News found the building for sale and an online announcement said the company sold to Florida-based Safariland in 2015.

That same year, Atlantic Tactical stopped selling guns to the general public, according to their website. They now only sell to current and retired public safety personnel.

No one at the retail store in New Cumberland would do an interview and Safariland did not respond to requests for comment.

Police perspective

“It’s more common for police agencies to do things like buybacks where their objective is to get guns off the street,” said Robert Bradshaw, a crisis management consultant in New Cumberland who works with police departments.

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“In my experience, that’s probably where most of the law enforcement officers that I know — that’s how they feel. They feel there’s too many guns on the street already.”

Bradshaw also helped write the fictional book “American Roulette” about the impact of a mass shooting on an American town. The characters he created are police officers, “to highlight the fact that police officers themselves become victims of these events. They become traumatized by it. They’re changed forever.”

An unclear path to Pittsburgh

How a gun sold by Newark Police to Atlantic Tactical landed on the streets of Northview Heights in 2019 is unclear.

In a statement to CBS News, an ATF spokesperson said, “there are a few different scenarios that could have occurred. Given the range of options and not wanting to imply something incorrect, we cannot speculate on what may have led to this particular report.”

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“This sounds like it’s part and parcel of a system that is setup with so many holes in it to allow guns to get into the wrong hands,” said Josh Fleitman, the campaign director for CeaseFirePA.

Fleitman said this incident is just one example of why new gun policies should be considered.

However, a Pittsburgh area gun shop owner said he and other owners cannot just sell to anyone and face restrictions.

“We have to ask, ‘mother may I sell this gun?’ to our federal government, and they have to give us an approval number to be able to transfer that item. And then we have to have records of who bought it,” outlined Bruce Piendl, the owner of Allegheny Arms and Gun Works.

As for the gun that traveled from Newark to Northview Heights, Pittsburgh Police never did find its owner and eventually destroyed it in 2021.

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Pittsburg, PA

Blanche says DOJ

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Blanche says DOJ


Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said on Tuesday that the Justice Department is not moving forward with its $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund that has become a major obstacle to the GOP agenda in Congress.

“We are not moving forward with the fund. Period,” he told lawmakers on the House Appropriations Committee.



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Luke Bryan concert expected to bring thousands of fans to Pittsburgh-area farm

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Luke Bryan concert expected to bring thousands of fans to Pittsburgh-area farm


On Sept. 17, multi-platinum country music star Luke Bryan will bring his Farm Tour to 1846 Farms near Latrobe.

Westmoreland County is no stranger to large outdoor concerts. Some may remember the Rolling Rock Town Fair in the early 2000s, while others may recall Luke Bryan’s stop at a farm in South Huntingdon Township just two years ago. Now the country music superstar is returning to the area.

The Unity Township farm’s general manager, Aleisha Stas, gave KDKA a tour of the family farm, which dates back to before the Civil War. She says Bryan’s team first reached out after finding the farm on social media, but she says at first, she and her family thought it was too good to be true.

“This was around April Fools, so we thought it was an April Fools prank,” Stas said. “My whole family, we were like, there’s no way this is about to happen. But this has been incredible.”

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Stas says Bryan’s team is handling everything logistically from parking and bathrooms to deciding exactly where the concert will be staged.

“If we have it on this side of the property, we can hold 12,000 people,” Stas said. “And if we have it on (the other side) of the property, it can be up to 20,000. But we have not determined that yet.”

Many of those decisions will be made as September gets closer. In the meantime, however, the farm is holding off on planting in certain fields until the final concert location is selected.

And while hosting thousands of people may sound a little intimidating, Stas says her family is excited to welcome fans to the farm for what they hope will be a memorable night.

“Obviously, we’ve never had this many people here before, so it will be a new thing for all of us, but we are not worried,” said Stas. “Luke Bryan’s team are experts with this, and I think it will go great.”

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Tickets for this concert are currently on sale, and they will run you about $77 per person, plus tax for general admission.



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2025 Steelers Offseason Recall: Garrett shutdown as Pittsburgh bullied Browns in Week 6 | Steel City Underground

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2025 Steelers Offseason Recall: Garrett shutdown as Pittsburgh bullied Browns in Week 6 | Steel City Underground


Steel City Underground presents post-game takeaways in our Steelers Offseason Recall series, revisiting key moments from the 2025 season and how they shaped the year that followed.

AFC North football rarely looks pretty, and the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Week 6 matchup against the Cleveland Browns at Acrisure Stadium followed that familiar formula. What started as a defensive slugfest on a torn-up field eventually turned into another frustrating afternoon for Cleveland as Pittsburgh pulled away for a 23-9 victory.

The win improved the Steelers to 4-1 and extended their remarkable regular season home winning streak against the Browns to 22 games. More importantly, it reinforced an early-season identity centered around disruptive defense, efficient quarterback play, and winning the battle in the trenches.

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Looking back, these were the biggest surprises from Pittsburgh’s victory.

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Jalen Ramsey stole the show from Watt and Garrett

Nobody expected Jalen Ramsey to leave Week 6 with more sacks than T.J. Watt and Myles Garrett combined, but that’s exactly what happened.

Ramsey entered the game after missing practice time earlier in the week and proceeded to deliver one of the more unexpected stat lines of the season. The veteran defensive back recorded two sacks and six combined tackles while frequently helping confuse Cleveland’s protection schemes.

Meanwhile, Watt recorded half a sack while Garrett failed to register one entirely.

Ramsey even admitted afterward that the performance surprised him. His production highlighted an emerging trend within Pittsburgh’s defense: pressure was coming from everywhere.

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The Steelers defense overwhelmed Cleveland’s offense

While Ramsey grabbed headlines, the collective defensive effort suffocated Cleveland for most of the afternoon.

The Steelers finished with six sacks as Nick Herbig led the team with two sacks while Ramsey added two of his own. Derrick Harmon, Watt, and Alex Highsmith also got involved as Pittsburgh repeatedly collapsed the pocket around rookie quarterback Dillon Gabriel.

Gabriel never looked comfortable. The rookie completed 29 of 59 passes for 221 yards and struggled once Cleveland became one-dimensional after falling behind. He finished with a passer rating of 66.3 while absorbing constant punishment.

Pittsburgh didn’t rely solely on edge pressure either. Defensive backs blitzed, interior rushers collapsed protection, and disguised looks forced Cleveland into mistakes.

Perhaps equally impressive was how the Steelers handled Browns rookie running back Quinshon Judkins. Entering the matchup, Judkins had averaged 4.6 yards per carry and looked like one of Cleveland’s few consistent offensive weapons. Pittsburgh erased that advantage, holding him to a season-low 36 rushing yards on 12 carries while limiting him to 3.0 yards per attempt.

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Through five games played after their bye week, the Steelers had already amassed 20 sacks and were rapidly becoming one of football’s most disruptive defenses.

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Myles Garrett disappeared

The Browns needed a game-changing performance from Myles Garrett. Instead, Pittsburgh’s offensive line turned in one of its best performances of the season.

Garrett moved around the formation throughout the game, but he spent much of the afternoon lined up across from Broderick Jones. With occasional help early and more one-on-one opportunities later, Jones and company neutralized Cleveland’s biggest defensive weapon.

Garrett finished with only two combined tackles. He failed to record a solo tackle, sack, forced fumble, quarterback hit, or pass defended.

Keeping Garrett quiet fundamentally changed how Cleveland could attack Rodgers and allowed Pittsburgh’s offense to remain balanced throughout the afternoon.

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Rodgers stayed efficient and upright

Aaron Rodgers didn’t deliver a vintage statistical masterpiece: he simply controlled the game.

The veteran quarterback completed 21 of 30 passes for 235 yards while distributing the football efficiently and trusting Arthur Smith‘s offensive approach. Rodgers leaned heavily on his tight ends early before taking advantage of favorable matchups later in the game.

His biggest moments arrived in the second half. Rodgers connected with Connor Heyward for a touchdown strike before finding D.K. Metcalf for another score that helped create separation on the scoreboard.

Equally important, Rodgers stayed upright. For only the second time that season, Pittsburgh allowed zero sacks. Cleveland hit Rodgers only three times despite him attempting 30 passes.

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Compare that with Dillon Gabriel, who absorbed six sacks and 16 total quarterback hits.

The offensive line, aided by extra blocking looks featuring Spencer Anderson, kept Cleveland’s front from controlling the game and allowed Rodgers to operate comfortably. Metcalf benefited from the protection, turning four receptions into 95 yards while the Steelers spread touches across Jonnu Smith, Pat Freiermuth, Roman Wilson, Darnell Washington, and Heyward.

Meanwhile, Jaylen Warren, Kenneth Gainwell, and Kaleb Johnson combined for 89 rushing yards to maintain offensive balance. Pittsburgh averaged 5.8 yards per play and controlled possession despite both teams having the same number of drives.

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The officiating nearly stole the spotlight

Not everything about the victory came without frustration. Ron Torbert’s officiating crew inserted itself into the game repeatedly as Pittsburgh absorbed ten accepted penalties during an afternoon filled with questionable decisions.

Several pass interference rulings frustrated players and fans alike.

Jerry Jeudy appeared to drag Brandin Echols down by both shoulder pads on one play, yet the result went against Pittsburgh. Later, Browns cornerback Denzel Ward appeared to pin D.K. Metcalf’s arm without drawing a flag.

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Even Watt found himself repeatedly flagged for alignment penalties despite checking positioning with officials beforehand, leading to visible frustration from Mike Tomlin on the sideline.

The most controversial moment arrived on special teams. Ke’Shawn Williams appeared to spark the crowd with a 47-yard punt return before an illegal blindside block penalty on Jabrill Peppers erased the play. The penalty not only wiped away field position but also backed Pittsburgh up an additional ten yards.

Despite the officiating frustrations, the Steelers remained composed, and by the end of the afternoon, that discipline, paired with suffocating defense and efficient offense, delivered another divisional win and continued building momentum heading into a critical AFC North stretch.





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